Sean Rush will not stand for Wellington City, creates watchdog group instead

Wellington City Councillor Sean Rush. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Wellington City Councillor Sean Rush will not stand for again, instead creating a public interest watchdog.

Rush told his constituents yesterday that he feels Wellington needs "less politics, less spin and more Council action on the issues facing our great city".

"The political climate on the Council has been such that at times the city has been let down."

He said following his successful cancer treatment, which saw him in remission from bowel cancer, he analysed his skills and decided that the best way he could contribute to the city was by forming a Wellington-focused Urban Planning and Transport Alliance.

"The Alliance will be a public interest watchdog ensuring that debate on important issues for our city are properly informed through neutral analysis, not constructed political narratives and niche interests."

Rush said his past as a lawyer will come in handy, and he will draw on his previous networks to "make use of the full range of judicial interventions."

He will serve through to the end of his term and will be releasing further details about the Alliance at the end of his council service.

"It's been a privilege to represent the Eastern Ward, and Wellingtonians generally, on the Wellington City Council. I campaigned on bringing common sense and unity to the Council, and to focus on the city's infrastructure, and I did as best I could under the circumstances."

"I reject the 'dysfunctional' tag but celebrate the diversity of my colleagues as representative of the broad political spectrum of Wellington."